Fact Sheet

The House and Senate resolutions were introduced on March 9 to convey the U.S. Congress' sympathy to the families of the nearly 400 young women who have been abducted and murdered in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico since 1993. The goal is to raise public awareness about the tragedy, express Congressional concern, and propose a set of actions to deal with the murders and abductions of these young women. It is important that you contact your Congressional representatives immediately to urge them to co-sponsor the resolution.

A recent update from Amnesty International states that since 1993 nearly 400 women have been murdered in the cities of Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. The number of women still reported missing is 40, according to official records, but the actual number is much higher according to local human rights groups.

Amnesty International found serious lapses by police investigators in most cases. In many instances, the police did not undertake searches for the missing women, and failed to interview people with possible knowledge of the crimes. Family members reporting the women missing were often told to wait a few days before the case is opened. The father of María Isabel Nava, for example, reported his daughter missing on January 4, 2000. But instead of taking action, the special prosecutor told him, "It's only Tuesday" and insinuated that his daughter had gone off with her boyfriend, her father says. Her body was found 23 days later. According to an autopsy, she had been held in captivity for two weeks before being killed.

Over the past year Mexico's federal government has taken a number of steps to address some of the concerns raised by Amnesty International (AI) in reporting the murders of young women in Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. The appointment of a special federal prosecutor to review the cases in Ciudad Juarez, and the naming of a national commissioner to coordinate the response of all federal agencies are positive steps. Nevertheless, AI remains concerned about the limitations placed on their work, and it remains unclear whether their role will make a significant contribution to the efforts to find justice for the family members. For example, the Special Prosecutor has no authority to prosecute state level officials whom she has found to be negligent or incompetent in the handling of the cases. Instead, she has referred the cases to the Attorney General of Chihuahua to pursue investigations. There are serious questions about the Attorney General's ability to carry out effective investigations of former and current state officials.